Wooded areas often come right up to people`s back yards in Hazelwood, where people report seeing them all the time.

On the same block (1300 block of Eagles Way Court) where the dog was just killed, another dog's been missing for months.

A Missouri Department of Conservation wildlife damage biologist met with Hazelwood Police to figure out what to do.

'I`m really worried about `Einstein`,' said pet owner, Kim Bennett, referring to her Dachshund as the dog scurried around the front entry of her home.

Einstein, a male, seemed to be missing his girlfriend, `Little Bit`,terribly.

`Little Bit` was Bennett`s Schnauzer-Poodle mix.

Bennett said she`d never seen a coyote, but her husband had, near the wooded area at the edge of their yard a few months ago.

He saw one again 9 o`clock Sunday morning when he went to let the dogs in.

'I`ve heard them though, they`ve howled a couple of times,' Bennett said of the coyotes living in the wooded area behind her home.

'[My husband] went down the stairs and saw Einstein, the Dachshund, chasing after the coyote. Then he went into the woods after Einstein,' she said.

There was no sign of `Little Bit` at first, but Einstein, it seemed, was trying to tell them something.

'[Einstein] kept going around the same area over and over again, until my husband saw little bit. By that time she was already dead,' Bennett said.

She said `Little Bit` had a fatal puncture wound to her chest.

Penny Schlueter, who lives down the block, said her dog `Maxie` had been missing since May.

Though `Maxie` was larger he was also old and defenseless. She wondered whether coyotes had something to do with it.Still, she said she did not favor trapping.

'You can see I`ve been crying. It brings back all the emotions ... I wouldn`t go after the coyotes but other people may have a different feeling for it. To me it`s just all part of nature,' Schlueter said.

'I`d like them to be trapped and taken somewhere else; maybe a zoo or something. I`d rather them not be killed,' Bennett said.

The Missouri Department of Conservation recommends non-lethal, "snare", trapping for nuisance coyotes, but only with a permit.

The 'snares' are like cable nooses. Along with coyotes, they can also trap pets, which can injure or kill themselves trying to get free.

The City of Hazelwood or homeowners would likely have to pay experts to do it.

There was no firm decision on whether to use 'snare' trapping in Hazelwood as of Monday night.